Greater Himalayan Research Articles

Late Quaternary glaciation in the Nun‐Kun massif, northwestern India

The late Quaternary glacial history of the Nun‐Kun massif, located on the boundary between the Greater Himalaya and the Zanskar range in northwestern India, was reconstructed. On the basis of morphostratigraphy and 10Be dating of glacial landforms (moraines and glacial trimlines), five glacial stages were recognized and defined, namely: (i) the Achambur glacial stage dated to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 to 4 (38.7–62.7 ka); (ii) the Tongul glacial stage dated to the early part of the Lateglacial (16.7–17.4 ka); (iii) the Amantick glacial stage dated to the later part of the Lateglacial (14.3 ka, 11.7–12.4 ka); (iv) the Lomp glacial stage dated to the Little Ice Age; and (v) the Tanak glacial stage, which has the youngest moraines, probably dating to the last few decades or so. Present and former equilibrium‐line altitudes (ELAs) were calculated using the standard area accumulation ratio method. The average present‐day ELA of ∼4790 m above sea level in the Greater Himalaya is lower than those in the Ladakh and Zanskar ranges, namely 5380 and ∼5900 m a.s.l., respectively. The ELA in the Zanskar range is higher than in the Ladakh range, possibly due to the higher peaks in the Ladakh range that are able to more effectively capture and store snow and ice. ELA depressions decrease towards the Ladakh range (i.e. inner Plateau). Peat beds interbedded with aeolian deposits that cap the terminal moraine of Tarangoz Glacier suggest millennial‐time‐scale climate change throughout the Holocene, with soil formation times at c. 1.5, c. 3.4 and c. 5.2 ka, probably coinciding with Holocene abrupt climate change events. Given the style and timing of glaciation in the study area, it is likely that climate in the Nun‐Kun region is linked to Northern Hemisphere climate oscillations with teleconnections via the mid‐latitude westerlies.

Assessment of digital image classification algorithms for forest and land-use classification in the eastern Himalayas using the IRS LISS III sensor

The article describes the assessment and discusses the potential of different methods of classifying Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor (LISS) III sensor data for vegetation-cover type and land-use mapping in the hilly terrain of the eastern Arunachal Pradesh, in the northeastern part of India. The forest cover types and their distribution in the study area are governed by climatic conditions and topographical features, which change along the gradient from tropical in the south to alpine in the Greater Himalayas in the north. Arunachal Pradesh is part of the Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot and is at the tri-junction of Indian, Sino-Japanese, and Indo-Malayan floristic regions. The evergreen forests in the area represent climatic climaxes, which are partly original virgin and partly affected by anthropogenic pressures. Due to phenological and physiognomic similarities in ecotone regions, the differences in the spectral reflectance between adjacent forest types are not well pronounced. The age of the forests, terrain characteristics, and the nature of the vegetation itself could be other reasons for the near-similar reflectance. It is for these reasons that conventional classification algorithms for supervised and unsupervised classification do not perform well. Therefore, there is a need to find a suitable method for vegetation and land-use mapping with high mapping accuracy in this region, which is a biodiversity hotspot. A suitable classification technique is important to characterize vegetation-cover type in this complex terrain. We tested unsupervised, supervised, hybrid, object-oriented, and expert classification techniques for vegetation and land-use mapping on Indian Remote Sensing (IRS)-1C LISS III data. The expert classifier produced the highest accuracy (93.39%) followed by object-oriented, hybrid, and supervised and unsupervised classification techniques.

Informants' consensus on ethnomedicinal plants in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary of Indian Himalayas

The present study was carried out in the protected area of Greater Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India. The study was carried out to understand the consensus on medicinal plants by inhabitants of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. The study documented 21 plant species that are used medicinally in 17 ailment categories. Out of 21 plant species, 12 species were reported for a single ailment separately and 8 species were reported by informants for more than one ailment. The consensus of informants for the roots and rhizomes were the most frequently used plant parts (68%). The plants which are under rare list in IUCN Red List category observed in the study area are Picrorhiza kurrooa, Aconitium hetrophyllum and Podophyllum hexandrum. The Consensus index factor (Fic) was found to be higher in the Haematological illness category (1.00) followed by Dermatological and Ophthalmological category which was (0.98).

The Great Himalaya Trail: A New Nepal Tourism Product with Both Trek Marketing and Development Rationale

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ntdr.v1i1.7371 Nepal Tourism and Development Review Vol.1(1) 2011 71-76

Educational Challenges in High Altitude Cold Desert: A Study of Literacy Levels in Leh, Ladakh

Ladakh is a high altitude mountainous region of India located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Ladakh region lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south. The Great Himalayas lying to the south forms a barrier to monsoon in this area. Due to this Ladakh is an isolated cold desert region. Altitude in Ladakh varies from place to place and is the main factor affecting local climate. The winter temperature touches as low as minus 30 degree (Leh and Kargil) and minus 60 degree in (Dras). The region of Ladakh normally remain land locked between November to June every year as Srinagar- Ladakh and Ladakh-Manali highways, which connect Ladakh with the other parts of the country, remains closed during the period because of snow and rigorous winter. Leh is one of the two districts of Ladakh region.

The Role of Atmospheric Dynamics and Climate Change on the Possible Fate of Glaciers in the Karakoram

Abstract High-resolution regional climate simulations for the Karakoram Mountain range in the greater Himalayas have been performed to investigate the atmospheric dynamics of this region, and their role in the Karakoram’s snowfall accumulation and possible glacial evolution through the next century. It has been found through a combination of field measurements and satellite observations that glaciers in this region appear to be reacting differently to contemporary climate change than those in other regions. This region has exhibited a relatively large number of either static or advancing glaciers while other glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas, as well as around the world, are nearly all retreating. The amount of precipitation received in the Karakoram region depends on the interplay between two climate systems: the westerly winds flowing over the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas, and the South Asian monsoon winds (also referred to as the Indian monsoon) flowing over the Indian Ocean. This study extends the modeling time frame by performing time-slice calculations for the Karakoram region through the twenty-first century. Despite regionwide simulated temperature changes, the highly elevated regions of the Karakoram Mountain range experience positive climatic mass balance until the end of the modeling time period. This result arises from a strong positive correlation between climatic mass balance and simulated increases in regional precipitation, which outweighs the negative correlation between climatic mass balance and simulated increases in temperature. Also, the extreme elevations within the Karakoram allow regional alpine glaciers to benefit from a strong elevation-dependent signal simulated in net snowfall accumulation, and hence climatic mass balance.

Documenting basin scale, geometry and provenance through detrital geochemical data: Lessons from the Neoproterozoic to Ordovician Lesser, Greater, and Tethyan Himalayan strata of Bhutan

Detrital zircon (DZ) ages, augmented with εNd(0) and δ13C isotopic values from 18 new and 22 published samples collected from Lesser Himalayan (LH), Greater Himalayan (GH) and Tethyan Himalayan (TH) rocks in Bhutan, support deposition of >7km of sedimentary rock in late Cambrian–Ordovician time and provide a stratigraphic framework for the pre-collisional Indian margin. Youngest GH DZ grains become younger upsection from 900Ma to 477Ma. Youngest DZ grains in TH samples are ~490–460Ma. Both the LH Jaishidanda Formation (Fm), and the LH Baxa Group overlie Paleoproterozoic LH rocks. The Jaishidanda Fm exhibits distinct populations of youngest DZ peaks, 475–550Ma, and 800–1000Ma. The Baxa Group (Manas, Pangsari, and Phuntsholing formations) contains youngest DZ peaks at both 500–525Ma and 0.9–1.0Ga. However, most samples from the Baxa Group in western Bhutan contain no grains younger than 1.8Ga. Samples from the LH Paro Fm, which sits directly under the MCT in western Bhutan, have youngest DZ peaks at 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.7, 1.8Ga. εNd values generally match DZ spectra, with samples that contain old, youngest grain populations corresponding to more negative εNd signatures. The Paro Fm is an exception where εNd (0) values from quartzite samples are quite negative (−19 to −24) whereas the εNd (0) values from interbedded schist contain younger detritus (−12 to −17). δ13C values from the Jaishidanda, Paro and Manas formations have δ13C values (−1.8 to +6) suggestive of deposition over late Neoproterozoic to Ordovician time. δ13C values from the Pangsari Fm vary from −2.8 to +1.8, compatible with deposition in the early- to middle Neoproterozoic. The young, latest Cambrian–Ordovician grains preserved in TH, GH and LH rocks suggest that the late Cambrian–Ordovician orogeny, documented in GH rocks throughout the orogen, served as a significant sediment source in Bhutan.

Diet Overlap Between Wild Ungulates and Domestic Livestock in the Greater Himalaya: Implications for Management of Grazing Practices

We investigated the diet overlap between wild ungulates and livestock (sheep and goats) at Bedini-Ali (20 km2) and Tungnath (9.6 km2) regions in Uttarakhand during 2005–06 and 2003–04, respectively. Diet overlap between Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), Himalayan musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), Sambar (Cervus unicolor), and livestock was carried out at Bedini-Ali, and between Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) and livestock at Tungnath. The diet of wild ungulates and livestock comprised mainly of grasses, sedges, forbs, shrubs, ferns, lichens, and mosses. At Bedini-Ali, of the total 53 food plant species recorded in the study area, 26 (49 %) were consumed by both wild and domestic ungulates, while species recorded in the diet of livestock, musk deer, sambar, and blue sheep were 35, 25, 25 and 17, respectively. Trophic niche overlap showed high percentage of diet overlap between wild ungulates and livestock. In Tungnath, of the 32 species of food plants found in the diet of Tahr and Livestock, 22 (68 %) were found in the diet of both; each having 26 and 28 species, respectively. Musk deer and tahr showed a gradual shift from monocotyledons to comparatively high nutritious dicotyledons in winter. Recovery of wild ungulate population in Bedini-Ali via reduced and intermittent livestock grazing and proper management interventions following the example of Tunganath area is still possible.

No ice lost in the Karakoram

The fate of glaciers in the greater Himalaya is widely discussed, but poorly known. A new measurement in the central Karakoram mountain range suggests that glacier mass change in this region contributes to sea-level rise nearly 0.05 mm per year less than has been thought.

The age and rate of displacement along the Main Central Thrust in the western Bhutan Himalaya

In western Bhutan, the Main Central Thrust (MCT) is broadly folded, creating multiple exposures of the fault surface over a ~70km across-strike distance. This unusual map pattern presents a unique opportunity to map the MCT and document both the magnitude and age of displacement. In situ Th-Pb (SIMS and LA-ICP-MS) geochronology of metamorphic monazite from the immediate hanging wall of the MCT indicates that prograde monazite growth in Greater Himalayan (GH) rocks continued until 20.8±1.1Ma, whereas crystallization of in situ melts, characterized by high Y monazite overgrowths, occurred during cooling from ca. 15–10Ma. Prograde monazite growth at 15Ma in Lesser Himalaya (LH) rocks in the immediate footwall requires that LH footwall strata began to be buried at this time, and the MCT had reached its southernmost, exposed extent. By combining prograde monazite ages in the immediate hanging wall and footwall, the duration of MCT displacement is bracketed between 20.8±1.1 and 15.0±2.4Ma. Immediately north of our study area, a published estimate of shearing along the outer-South Tibetan detachment (STD) argues for displacement between 20 and 15Ma, coeval with the age range for MCT displacement that we document in this study. However retrograde monazite grains as young as 10Ma suggest that GH rocks were cooling until ~10Ma, 5Myr later than motion on the outer-STD immediately to the north. This cooling was either the result of continued displacement on the MCT, or growth of a duplex that passively folded the MCT. Using a sequential reconstruction, we estimate a total displacement of ~230km, which is the sum of displacements on the MCT and the structurally-lower Paro Thrust, over a duration of 5.8±2.6Myr. This indicates a horizontal shortening rate of 4.0+3.2/−1.3cm/yr, which exceeds present rates estimated from geodetic measurements across the Himalaya, and MCT displacement rates (c. 2cm/yr) inferred from petrologic and thermal models in central Nepal but is indistinguishable from plate convergence rates calculated for eastern Bhutan between 23 and 20Ma (3.3±0.7cm/yr). Our study highlights that displacement on the MCT alone achieved plate velocity rates in western Bhutan, and that the age and rate of MCT displacement varied significantly across the Himalaya.

Identification of Potential Tourism Places in Sikkim using Remote Sensing & GIS

Nestled in the Eastern Himalayas, the state of Sikkim is home to immense biological diversity and rich natural and cultural heritage. It is one of the highest regions with an area of 7096 sq. km. It is a biological hot spot with many rare, endemic varieties of flora and fauna. This bio-diversity wealth contributes significantly to the country’s natural heritage and to the nation’s ecological balance. Besides, Sikkim is a cauldron, in which the great cultures of Tibet and India have been synthesized together to evolve as a land of variegated cultures and traditions. Yet the region has tended to be left far behind in developmental needs and poverty levels are comparatively high. Current economic wisdom states that the tourism sector would constitute a keep sector in the economy of hill regions. Sikkim has great potential for the same as it has a major portion of its land comprising of the Great Himalayas, and has several trekking routes offering for attracting a growing trekking community. The tourism trends are studied to map the state of progress and prospects of tourism in the state, and for the general understanding of patterns of tourist influx. Tourism in Sikkim is predominantly domestic; foreign tourists comprise only 5.5% of the total tourist influx[1]. The trends reveal that Sikkim tourism is in the developmental stage of increasing growth of tourist influx. Simulations based on three scenarios suggest that approximately 7.6–10.4 lakhs tourists would visit Sikkim during the year 2017, which would also have Implications on the infrastructure, environment, natural resources, culture and eco-tourism of the state. The impacts are also analyzed in light of papered increase in the population and trends of livestock resources and agricultural production. A proactive planning involving optimal use of management options, therefore, is required for a viable symbiosis of tourism and environment, and sustainability of tourism in the state. Keywords: RSGIS; Sikkim; Remote; Sensing

Detrital zircon geochronology of pre‐Tertiary strata in the Tibetan‐Himalayan orogen

Detrital zircon data have recently become available from many different portions of the Tibetan–Himalayan orogen. This study uses 13,441 new or existing U‐Pb ages of zircon crystals from strata in the Lesser Himalayan, Greater Himalayan, and Tethyan sequences in the Himalaya, the Lhasa, Qiangtang, and Nan Shan–Qilian Shan–Altun Shan terranes in Tibet, and platformal strata of the Tarim craton to constrain changes in provenance through time. These constraints provide information about the paleogeographic and tectonic evolution of the Tibet–Himalaya region during Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic time. First‐order conclusions are as follows: (1) Most ages from these crustal fragments are <1.4 Ga, which suggests formation in accretionary orogens involving little pre‐mid‐Proterozoic cratonal material; (2) all fragments south of the Jinsa suture evolved along the northern margin of India as part of a circum‐Gondwana convergent margin system; (3) these Gondwana‐margin assemblages were blanketed by glaciogenic sediment during Carboniferous–Permian time; (4) terranes north of the Jinsa suture formed along the southern margin of the Tarim–North China craton; (5) the northern (Tarim–North China) terranes and Gondwana‐margin assemblages may have been juxtaposed during mid‐Paleozoic time, followed by rifting that formed the Paleo‐Tethys and Meso‐Tethys ocean basins; (6) the abundance of Permian–Triassic arc‐derived detritus in the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes is interpreted to record their northward migration across the Paleo‐ and Meso‐Tethys ocean basins; and (7) the arrival of India juxtaposed the Tethyan assemblage on its northern margin against the Lhasa terrane, and is the latest in a long history of collisional tectonism.

Vegetation types of Sheosar lake and surrounding landscape in Deosai plains of North Pakistan, Western Himalayas

Sheosar Lake is located in Deosai plains of great Himalayas, Northern Pakistan at an altitude of 4142 m. Due to its exiting and isolated geographic location and diverse climatic conditions, area harbors very peculiar, highly endemic and unique vegetation. Phytosociological expeditions were carried out to study the vegetation dynamics of the area. A total of 114 plant species belonging to 28 families were reported from the area. Carex-Geranium-Bistorta and Sibbaldia-Saxifraga-Eragrostis communities were found to be the dominant associations. Primary data was analyzed by deterrended correspondence analyses (DCA) which revealed strong correlation between vegetation distribution and the moisture gradient. Regular and integrated explorations are further recommended for conservation management of endemic flora.

Spatially variable response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change affected by debris cover

The present state and future evolution of Himalayan glaciers has been controversial. An analysis of remotely sensed frontal changes and surface velocities from glaciers in the greater Himalaya between 2000 and 2008 shows large regional variability in the responses of Himalayan glaciers to climate change.

Sediment provenance, reworking and transport processes in the Indus River by U–Pb dating of detrital zircon grains

We present new major and trace element data, together with U–Pb ages for zircon sand grains from the major tributaries of the Indus River, as well as the adjacent Ghaggar and Yamuna Rivers and from bedrocks within the Sutlej Valley, in order to constrain the origin of the sediment reaching the Arabian Sea. Zircon grains from the upper Indus are generally younger than 200 Ma and contrast with those from the eastern tributaries eroded from Himalayan sources. Grains younger than 15 Ma, which typify the Nanga Parbat Massif, comprise no more than 1–2% of the total, even in the upper Indus, showing that this terrain is not a major sediment producer, in contrast with the Namche Barwe Massif in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. The Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers in particular are very rich in Lesser Himalayan-derived 1500–2300 Ma zircons, while the Chenab is dominated by 750–1250 Ma zircons, mostly eroded from the Greater Himalaya. The upper Indus, Chenab and Ravi yield zircon populations broadly consistent with the outcrop areas, but the Jhelum and the Sutlej contain many more 1500–2300 Ma zircons than would be predicted from the area of Lesser Himalayan rock within their drainages. A significant population of grains younger than 200 Ma in the sands of the Thar Desert indicates preferential eolian, monsoon-related transport from the Indus lower reaches, rather than reworking from the local rivers. Modelling of observed zircon ages close to the delta contrasts with modern water discharge. The delta is rich in zircons dating 1500–2300 Ma, while discharge from modern rivers carrying such grains is low. The modest size of the Sutlej, the richest source of these materials in the modern system, raises the possibility that the compositionally similar Yamuna used to flow westwards in the recent past. Our data indicate a non-steady state river with zircon transport times of 5–10 k.y. inferred from earlier zircon dating of delta sands. The modern delta zircons image an earlier, likely Early-Mid Holocene, erosional state, in which the Lesser Himalaya were more important as sediment suppliers. Early-Mid Holocene sands show much less erosion from the Karakoram–Transhimalaya compared to those deposited at the Last Glacial Maximum, or calculated from the modern discharge. We favour variations in summer monsoon intensity as the primary cause of these temporal changes.

Using isotopic and chronologic data to fingerprint strata: Challenges and benefits of variable sources to tectonic interpretations, the Paro Formation, Bhutan Himalaya

[1] We combine detrital zircons (DZ) and epsilon neodymium (Nd) signatures with field mapping in the Paro Formation in western Bhutan. DZ age spectra are strongly variable and display signatures that have been used to uniquely identify both Greater Himalayan (GH) and Lesser Himalayan (LH) strata. DZ age peaks from six quartzite samples require sources for ∼0.5, 0.8, 1.2, 1.4, 1.7, 1.8, and 2.5 Ga zircons in the Paro Formation. The youngest (∼0.5 Ga) zircons argue for a Cambrian maximum deposition age. Two samples have a youngest 1.8 Ga peak typically attributed to Paleoproterozoic LH rocks. A ∼450 Ma crystallization age from two granite samples constrains the minimum deposition age as Ordovician. New Nd signatures from six detrital samples from the Paro Formation show significant variation with lithology. Schists have Nd(0) values between −12.0 and −16.9, while quartzite values vary between −18.8 and −24.5. These data imply that the Paro Formation was derived from both young and old sources, with DZ and Nd values obtained from the same quartzite samples requiring old detritus while the Nd values obtained from interbedded schist require younger detritus. Using published isotopic and chronologic definitions of Himalayan strata, schist‐rich layers wouldbeconsideredGH,whiletheinterbeddedquartzite

Sighting of Tibetan Wolf Canis lupus chanko in the Greater Himalayan range of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttarakhand, India: a new record

In India, the Tibetan Wolf Canis lupus chanko is distributed in the Trans-Himalaya region. We report the sighting of Tibetan Wolf from the Bedini-Ali area that falls in the Greater Himalayan range and is located in the transition zone of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand, India. We hypothesise that the Tibetan wolf inhabiting the Trans-Himalayan areas of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve would have moved south-west around the alpine regions of Nanda Devi National Park towards Bedini-Ali, following migratory livestock herds that graze in these areas during summer.

A climatic trigger for a major Oligo-Miocene unconformity in the Himalayan foreland basin

[1] Subsidence in foreland basins is modulated by the size of the flexural load, the elastic thickness of the foreland lithosphere, the nature of the sedimentary fill, and the rate of convergence. Basal “forebulge unconformities” are well known from these basins, but here we focus on a major unconformity in the Himalayan foreland, which removed much of the Oligocene–lower Miocene. This is a critical time in the Himalaya because it spans the period of initial rapid exhumation of high-grade metamorphic rocks and the start of motion on the Main Central Thrust. We show that the synchronous timing of unconformity and rapid Greater Himalayan exhumation may be explained by the same trigger, enhanced erosion. We estimate that accelerating erosion between 24 and 20 Ma would have removed ∼1.5 km more rock from the Greater Himalaya than would have been the case had erosion remained at the slower Paleogene rates. During this time erosion must have temporarily exceeded rock uplift rates. By transferring rock from the Himalaya to the Indian Ocean the load is reduced and the Indian Plate is flexed less, so that the depth of the foreland basin shallows to a new equilibrium state. We use a flexural model to estimate that erosional unloading could have caused uplift of 400–500 m of the basin at the range front, extending 70–150 km into the basin. Intensification of the Asian summer monsoon around the Oligo-Miocene boundary (∼24 Ma) is the most likely trigger of the stronger erosion. Similar unconformities are seen at 15–16 Ma and in the Pleistocene also, linked to faster erosion at these times.

Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Tarim Block, NW China: New geochronological insights from the Quruqtagh domain

The Tarim Block is an important tectonic unit to understand the Proterozoic tectonic framework of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and the supercontinent Rodinia. The granitic, dioritic, gabbroic intrusive rocks and volcanic–volcanoclastic rocks are widely distributed in the Quruqtagh domain of NE-Tarim. The precise ages of these rocks and their tectonic implications in this part of the world are not well understood. This paper reports geochronological data of gabbro, diorite and granitic rocks from Quruqtagh. LA ICPMS U–Pb zircon ages suggest that numerous of gabbroic and granitic rocks were mainly crystallized at ca. 800 Ma. New geochronological data from the magmatic zircons of gabbro, granite and paragneiss can be preliminarily divided into four groups, which are (1) 2469 ± 12 Ma or 2470 ± 24 Ma, (2) 933 ± 11 Ma to 1048 ± 19 Ma, (3) 806 ± 8 Ma, 798 ± 7 Ma, 799 ± 24 Ma, 698 ± 51 Ma (lower intercept age of the paragneiss), and (4) 1930 Ma (upper intercept age of the paragneiss), respectively. These age data are consistent with four tectono-thermal events that took ever place in the Tarim Block. The 93 U–Pb age data (seven for average Concordia age from seven igneous plutons, 86 for xenocrystic and metamorphic ones) from eight samples can be divided into four evolutionary stages: 2360–2550 Ma (peak of 2510 Ma), 1800–2020 Ma (peak of 1870 Ma), 860–1140 Ma (peak of 920 Ma) and 680–840 Ma (peak of 800 Ma), respectively. The age peak of 2500 Ma, consistent with characteristic period of a global building-continent event, indicates that the late Neoarchean–early Paleoproterozoic magmatism had been ever taken place in Tarim. Two peaks at 1870 Ma and 920 Ma, being two assembly periods of the middle Paleoproterozoic Columbia and the Neoproterozoic Rodinia supercontinents, suggest that Tarim had connections with both Columbia and Rodinia, whereas structural evidence of these two events is absent in Tarim. Notable peak of 800 Ma is interpreted as a response to the break-up of Rodinia supercontinent. The geological indicators of break-up such as Neoproterozoic granite, bimodal igneous rocks, composite magmatic flow, basic dyke swarm and continental rift type basins are well developed, followed by a large-scale of late Neoproterozoic glacier event. Four stages of magmatism mentioned above constitute major events in the Precambrian evolution of Tarim and Central Asian. These data, combining with previous U–Pb ages from igneous rocks, provide a significant line of evidence for understanding the Rodinia evolution of Tarim and the relationships with South China, east India and east Antarctica, Lesser and Great Himalaya blocks in Proterozoic. A primary reconstruction of the Tarim Block, connecting it with South China, east India and east Antarctica, Lesser and Great Himalaya blocks, is finally proposed.

An account concerning arrival and departure time of few selected winter migratory birds in Haryana rural ponds

The present study has been carried out in few selected Northern Districts of Haryana State for a period of three years w.e.f. 2005-08. Attention has been focused on winter migratory birds that sojourn in Haryana and other parts of north Haryana. These birds come to Haryana from far off places, across the rim of great Himalayas and beyond. Only eighteen birds’ departure and arrival time was recorded for study convenience. These migratory birds do not arrive in Haryana in one lot, on one date and at one time. Instead, these display a definite, pattern, decorum and time table, specific to species and even specific to place subject to varying temperature barometer.
 The present study reveal that Northern Shoveller (Anas clypeata) Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) Common Teal (Anas crecca) and Gadwall (Anas strepera) arrive in October; Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) Graylag Goose (Anser anser) Spot billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) arrive in November. As far as departure time is concerned, it is interesting to note that Mallard generally depart in February. Birds like Greylag Goose (Anser anser) Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha), Common Pochard (Aythya ferina), Eurasion Wigeon (Anas penelope), Tufted Pochard (Aythya fuligula) Red-crested Pochard (Rhodonessa rufina) and Rudy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) departs in March every year. On the other hand, Common Coot (Fulica atra) Northern Shoveller (Anas clypeata) Northern Pintail (Anas acuta), Common Teal, (Anas crecca), Gadwall (Anas strepera) and Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) depart as late as April. Simultaneously, another aspect of gradual increase in number from October to December and conversely gradual decrease in number from January to February was also analyzed in case of few birds only. Greatest flocks of nearly 250 or so were in case of Northern Shoveller (Anas clypeata), Northern Pintail (Anas acuta), Common Teal (Anas crecca) and Common Coot (Fulica atra). Contrary to this, least number in a flock less than fifteen was seen in case of Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus), Greylag Goose (Anser anser) etc.